


Back when we were living for the hope of it all

by apolloxbvcky



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), F/F, F/M, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, M/M, Minor Aang/Katara, Minor Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Outsider, Past Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Songfic, izumi-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27786487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apolloxbvcky/pseuds/apolloxbvcky
Summary: The story of how Izumi's dads got together, told in three different stories, with three different points of view.
Relationships: Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Original Female Character
Comments: 22
Kudos: 139





	1. you weren't mine to lose

**Author's Note:**

> this is loosely based off the story told in the folklore by taylor swift songs august, betty, and cardigan; because i am in love with her, the songs, and the album

Izumi is twelve years old when she realizes what she feels for her friend Oyoru might go beyond just friendship.

Oyoru and her have been friends ever since her father, one of the ambassadors from the Earth Kingdom on the Fire Nation, and his family, arrived at the capital. There are not that many kids she can hang around; there aren’t lots of kids in the palace, period. Oyoru has more friends than Izumi does, because she goes to a public school in the city; but Izumi, home-schooled, doesn’t have more reference, so for her, that’s just what you felt for all your friends.

The realization is not something sudden, either. But every time she sees her, her palms are sweaty, and she feels her heart racing out of her chest; her breath catches in her throat and she feels dizzy. There’s an unknown warmth in her cheeks and she gets tongue twisted; hardly ever knowing what to say.

At first, she thinks she’s sick; and that’s why she ends up running to her mother’s chambers, begging her to take her to the healer, on the verge of tears; after meeting with Oyoru for tea and pastries.

When she hears her daughter’s symptoms, Mai laughs, ruffling her hair. “That’s not sickness, sweetheart. I think you have a crush.” She bops her daughter’s nose, who widens her eyes.

“A crush? But…” Izumi starts, but never finishes the sentence. Mai takes her hands and guides her to her bed, inviting her to sit beside her. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks, grabbing her brush from the nightstand and taking the golden hairpiece off Izumi’s hair, starting to brush it, just like she always did when Izumi was a kid and she was upset about something.

“It’s Oyoru…” she starts in a little voice. “She’s the daughter of councilman Shimaoh.” Mai hums.

“Yes, I know her. She’s a bit taller than you, and has brown hair… she always wears her hair up in a braided bun, doesn’t she?” Izumi nods. “Isn’t she a bit… older than you?”

“Just by a year!” Izumi protests, rolling her eyes. “Dad and Daddy are a year apart too. And Uncle Aang is like, a hundred years older than Aunt Katara!”

“Right.” Mai says snickering. “How could I forget about that.” she puts down the brush, taking a few strands of her daughter’s hair and starting to braid them. “So… do you really like her, then?”

Izumi sighs. “I don’t know… I’ve never liked anyone before…” she pouts. “But there’s a problem, though.”

“What is it?” Mai says. Izumi turns to look at her mother, the silky strands on her braid untangling altogether. Izumi’s eyes are sad, and Mai places a hand on her cheek.

“She doesn’t like me back. She has a stupid boyfriend.” She frowns, crossing her arms on her chest.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Mai says, hugging her. “It’s okay.” The woman runs her fingers through her cheeks. “You know what? I know exactly who can help you with this situation.”

Izumi frowns. “You do?”

Mai nods. “Yes. You should go ask your auntie. I think she’s on the Kyoshi training room.” She says, kissing her forehead. “Come on, I’ll walk you there.”

She stands up, hand in hand, dragging the little girl with her; and they walk down the halls of the palace in a comfortable silence, Mai greeting every member of the staff they ran into on their way, Izumi waving at them with a smile.

Once in the training room, Izumi is, as always, mesmerized by the movements, the routines and the techniques of the Kyoshi warriors. With their armors and their make-up on, she finds it fascinating how swiftly they can move around the room, almost featherlight. She asked, when she was younger, her father to let her join them, but he had only raised her eyebrows and told her she would have to wait until she was older. She doesn’t know exactly _when_ she would be older, but she couldn’t wait.

Ty Lee bounces towards them as soon as she spots them, hugging Mai first, then Izumi. “Hey, baby girl!” Ty Lee says, kissing her hair. Mai sighs as she pinches her nose. “Oops. I think I left some make-up there.”

Izumi looks up at her other mom, laughing. “It’s okay.” she assures her, as the woman tries to clean it with her hands.

“Sure. _I’ll_ just wash it later.” Mai rolls her eyes, sighing. Ty Lee grabs her by the waist, rubbing their cheeks together, making her wife groan. Izumi looks up at them, smiling.

When Ty Lee breaks away from Mai, her makeup smudged all over their faces, she smiles at the teenager. “So? You’re here for a class?” she looks at Mai, excited. “Did Zuko finally give in?” the taller smiles, shaking her head.

“Not really. Izumi wants to talk to Suki. It’s… a personal matter.” Mai explains. Her wife frowns at her.

“Is everything okay?” the taller woman nods.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about. We’ll update you over dinner. Can you get Suki?” Ty Lee looks at her, then at Izumi, who is blushing now, and nods.

“I’ll be right back.” She whispers, turning back to walk towards her friend.

Izumi follows her mother with her eyes as she walks towards Suki, grabs her by the sleeve and points towards where Izumi and Mai are standing, still holding hands, as she whispers something in her ear. She can see Suki frown at her and then look at Ty Lee, nodding. Some more words are exchanged between them, and seemingly, Ty Lee picks up the warriors’ training’s leadership.

It’s not long until Suki is in front of them. “Your Majesty,” she bows to the girl. “Advisor Mai.”

“General Suki.” Mai greets back. Izumi rolls her eyes. She hates when they do this: speak so formally to each other while they’re in public, pretending they aren’t a family. Pretending they don’t just have dinner together every other night, or that Suki has never lulled her back to sleep, whispering Earth Kingdom songs in her ear.

“What’s the matter?” Suki asks, crossing her arms on her chest. Mai looks down to her daughter and moves their hands together towards Suki.

“She needs your advice.” Suki raises her eyebrows, but nods, taking Izumi’s hand from her mother’s.

“Of course. What is it, ‘Zumi?” the girl gulps. Her face feels like it’s on fire, and she looks away from her aunt. She wonders if this is how her father feels every time, he firebends. If it is, it sucks. From the corner of her eye, she sees Suki looking worriedly at Mai.

“I think it would be better if you took this outside.” Mai suggests. Suki nods, and squeezes Izumi’s hand.

“Let’s go. We can go talk by turtleducks’ pond.” Suki casually says. Izumi nods, and they walk out of the training room, through the main garden towards the pond that is in the middle of it.

When they reach the pond, Suki sits right beside of the it, supporting her back in a tree. Izumi sits right beside her, her little legs crossed. They don’t talk for a while, until Izumi finally finds the courage to look at her and ask.

“Have you ever liked someone you had no chances to be with?”

Suki’s eyes widen at the question. Then, a soft smile appears in her lips.

“So this is what it’s all about… Well, it’s a long story. But you’re old enough to know this now, I think.” She puts her hand in one of Izumi’s thighs, looking down at her. “This might come as a surprise, but before your dads got together, your dad and I… had a little romance.” She winks. Izumi frowns.

“Sokka and you? Really?”

Suki laughs. “What? Is it so hard to believe? I mean, I’m not that ugly, am I?” Suki jokes, pocking at her side.

Izumi blushes again, shaking her head. “No! Auntie, you know you’re beautiful. I just never thought… Dad would like someone who wasn’t Daddy.”

“Yeah… it’s a long story.” Suki sighs. “When your father and I met, he was an asshole. Don’t tell your mothers I said that word. He thought the Kyoshi were not good warriors because we were all girls. _After_ we kidnapped him.” Suki jokingly rolls her eyes, making Izumi laugh. “Anyway, in the end, we beat his ass hard enough we kicked the misogyny out of him, and he asked us to train him, so we did. And I thought there was a mutual attraction, there. I think there really was at first. We found each other again in Ba Sing Se, when I helped him, your uncle and your aunt get in the city. But one thing led to another, and we had to go separate ways again.” Suki sighs. “Next time I saw him, everything had already changed.” The older woman looks at her. “You know how your dads broke me and your grandfather out of prison?” Izumi nods. “ _That’s_ when it changed.”

When they finally landed the airship on the Western Air Temple, Zuko practically disappeared. Suki noticed because she had been keeping eyes on him since they got on the airship.

The whole trip, Sokka had been beaming with excitement over having his father being by his side again. Suki was happy for him, obviously; but there was something bothering her. Last time she had seen the crown prince of the Fire Nation, he was the enemy, he was trying to kidnap Aang in his father’s name, they had been running away from him. Now, out of a sudden, Sokka was introducing him to his father as just ‘Zuko’, a blushing boy who simply offered his hand to the Chief for him to shake.

Suki knew men tended to be dumb, but were they really that dumb?

Their first night on the Temple, during dinner, Sokka sat beside her. On his other side, Zuko ate silently. Suki couldn’t help but notice that everyone in the circle was treating him like he was another ally, like he had always been fighting by their side; instead of chasing after them, trying to capture Aang for the better part of the last year.

Everyone except Katara, though. She looked at him the same way herself probably was, untrustworthy and cautelous.

So, it must have been men that tended to be dumb, then.

And Toph.

She tried to sleep during the night. She was more than exhausted; she should’ve slept like a baby. But she couldn’t. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was Kyoshi Island in flames, and Zuko’s face (and ponytail, which was missing – so maybe something had really changed for the better) laughing at her.

At some point, tired of tossing around, she stood up from her sleeping bag and walked towards the fountain facing the cliff. She sat on the edge, her legs dangling in the air.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that she heard soft steps in her direction, and felt a body sit beside her.

“You should be resting. It’s been a long day.” Sokka mumbled. He was still half-asleep. Suki looked at him. He was out of the Fire Nation guard uniform he had stolen, back in his characteristic blue tunic, all wrinkled. His hair was falling down his face, framing his sleepy face, and it was obvious he was forcing his eyes to stay open.

“Yeah. I think that’s exactly why I can’t.” she replied, putting one of her legs up and placing her chin on top of her knee.

“Too much residual adrenaline?” Suki hummed in response. They both stayed silent, Sokka almost falling asleep on his seat, his head tilting to the front. Suki smiled, softly, and took a strand of his hair, putting it behind his ear.

“Go to sleep, Sokka. I’ll be right back.” She whispered. Sokka nodded but didn’t move. Instead, he looked up, towards the moon.

“Okay.” he said a few moments later. “I’ll let you two chat for a bit.” He mumbled, standing up. He kissed Suki’s cheek and dragged his feet back towards the sleeping circle. Suki followed him with her eyes.

He noticed Sokka’s bag was right beside Zuko’s, and that the prince lied facing the Water Tribe boy. She turned before she could see which side Sokka was facing.

Not long after that, Azula attacked the Temple; and they fled. Hakoda and his kids, once again, were separated.

Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko and her escaped on Appa. They ended up setting camp on some cliff.

At some point, Sokka proposed a toast to Zuko. Suki tried to indulge him, but Katara didn’t. She and Zuko left the circle, stepping aside to, as Suki guessed, have a fight in private.

It wasn’t long, though. Suki was just finishing packing everything right back along Aang when Katara came back, not saying anything, and got inside the bigger tent, the one the three girls shared.

At midnight, right as Sokka had told her to, she tiptoed out of her tent, and towards his, clashing with Zuko on the way. She frowned, looking up and down at the prince, who frowned back at her; instead, his was more of a confused than an angry one.

“Oops.” She deadpanned. “Wrong tent.”

Zuko’s frown grew. “Sorry. Do you need to… talk to Sokka, too?”

Suki shook her head slowly. “No. Not me.” She said, turning back and walking towards her own tent again.

The morning after, Katara and Zuko left. Sokka and her ended up in cooking duty while Aang and Toph practiced their earth bending.

Sokka cleared his throat while Suki roasted the meat. “You didn’t come last night.”

Suki, squatting down to check on their food, looked up at him, raising her eyebrows. She scoffed, turning back to look at the meat. “You already had company.”

“Wh- Zuko?” he said. Suki didn’t reply. “He only came by to ask me something. He left almost as soon as he came. You could’ve come back later.”

“Of course. Whenever Your Majesty’s agenda fits.” Sokka squatted in front of her.

“Are you jealous or something?” he raised his eyebrows. Suki didn’t look at him. “I thought you liked Zuko.”

“Oh yeah. In fact, I love him. Ever since he came to Kyoshi Island and burnt it to the ground, all I could think about was ‘Man, I love that psychotic prince so much! I can’t wait to see him again!’”

Sokka frowned, standing up again. Suki stood up, too, facing him. she could feel the rage bubbling in her chest. “He broke you out of prison.” He said.

“Yeah, well. That doesn’t mean I trust him.” Sokka grunted, writhing her teeth.

“Well, you should! He has changed, okay? I tell you, he…” his words died on his tongue, and Suki crossed her arms on her chest, raising an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. “He’s different now. A lot different. I don’t think he was ever… evil, or even a bad person. I… if you won’t trust him, at least, trust me. Or Aang, or Toph.”

“Toph and Aang are twelve. They’d trust anyone who offered them a game of hide-and-seek.”

“Well, then, trust me!” he pleaded. Suki looked away, maintaining his stance.

“I think I’m going to need a little more from him before I can trust him.”

“Suki. You’re just being stubborn now. He’s been teaching Aang how to firebend so he can _kill_ his father. He fought his sister just this yesterday. What else do you want from him?”

“Why are you defending him?” she said, looking back at him. Sokka’s face showed his anger. His bushed eyebrows on a frown and he was a little red from the ire. His hands turned into fists, his knuckles white from the strength. Suki wasn’t sure if he had ever seen him like this before.

“Because he’s my friend, Suki. So if you’re not going to respect him as his own person, at least respect him as that.” he turned around, giving her his back. “And remember I asked him to stay behind, but he offered to come with me to save _you_ and my dad.”

He walked away from Suki, and the meat that was roasting on the fire. Suki only watched him go.

When Zuko and Katara came back from their adventure, they set pace towards Ember Island.

Zuko had told them his family had a house there, that had belonged to them for years, but no one ever went there anymore. Suki was suspicious. To her, it felt like walking right inside the wolf’s mouth. But she didn’t even have Katara’s silent support anymore, since apparently, she had gotten over whatever grudge she had over him.

Aang and Zuko had gotten used to practice firebending every morning on the main patio, and the others had gotten used to sit there and watch them. Suki, on the other hand, just looked at Sokka being mesmerized by the flames.

“It’s just… fascinating, how beautiful fire is, when not targeted at us.” He had said, when his sister had started questioning his undivided attention.

Suki had noticed, though, that most time, he was not watching at the fire, rather at the older firebender who was producing it.

Then, one night, Sokka said they should go to the theatre, to see a play where they were the main characters.

The show was hilariously bad. Suki wasn’t one to enjoy theatre, usually, she had enough drama in her life to just sit and watch other people’s. But she was enjoying this one, however bad it was, so at least she didn’t feel like she was wasting her night.

Then, the play started telling how the team had arrived at the North Pole, and Princess Yue’s character appeared. Suki frowned when she noticed Sokka’s character flirting with her. Was this fiction, or had Sokka just not told her? Maybe nothing had happened, though. Maybe it had just been an unrequited crush.

But then, when Yue was about to turn into the moon spirit, they kissed. Suki looked at Sokka, sitting beside her. “You never told me you made out with the moon spirit.” She whispered, half-jokingly.

And Sokka, tears in his eyes, didn’t even look at her when he shushed her. Suki looked away, offended.

But from the corner of her eye, she could see how Zuko turned slightly to his left, making eye contact with the Water Tribe boy, who only nodded at him, placing one of his hands on his shoulder.

There was an intermission after that. The whole group left their booth, sitting in the stairs that led to it from the outside. Except for Sokka, who wanted to get some snacks. Suki was still mad at him, so she acted as if she hadn’t heard. Zuko, on the other hand, stood up and announced he was accompanying him. Suki didn’t say anything, but she did raise her eyebrows.

“It’s so weird how close Sokka is with Zuko.” Toph commented. Aang looked at her.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Toph shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, Sokka always claims the Fire Nation is only filled with ruthless and hateful people. I’m not complaining, I just think it’s a weird turn of character on him.”

“Well, Zuko has proven himself!” Aang defended him. “He’s helping me learn how to firebend, he went with Katara to…” he trailed off, waving his hand. “And he saved Hakoda and Suki!”

Suki scoffed. “Yeah. That he did.” She whispered. Aang turned to look at her.

“What?” he said, confused. Suki shook her head, standing up.

“Nothing. Nothing at all. I’m going to the bathroom.”

Katara frowned, standing up too. “I’ll go with you.”

They walked in silence, until they entered the bathroom, and Katara turned at her. “Are you okay?”

Suki shook his head. “I can’t believe you forgave him. That you all did. He’s Ozai’s son! He has been trying to kidnap Aang for years, and now he just comes here, says he had a change of heart and suddenly we’re all friends? Really, Katara? I thought you were the mature one.”

Katara sighs. “I am. That’s why I’m forgiving him.”

“Katara, he burned my entire village, remember? He attacked your tribe, too. He has done many, many unspeakable things.”

“He saved you, too. He’s teaching Aang how to defeat his own father. He offered us his home. He almost let his own sister die so we could escape just a few days ago, remember that?” Katara placed her hand on Suki’s shoulder, but the older girl didn’t look back at her. “I know what is like to lose everything. Believe me, I do, Suki. But I truly think Zuko has changed. Actually, no. I think he was always a good person, he just had the wrong point of view. Suki, this is bigger than any of us. Just because we’re taking a break and coming to the theatre tonight doesn’t mean we’re not still in the middle of a war, or that in a few weeks, the faith of our lives won’t be on Aang’s hands. That’s why I’m forgiving him; we need all the help we can get if we want to do this. And if that means some old enemies have to become allies… There’s no space for pettiness on this.” Suki sighed, looking at the younger girl. Her eyes, although blue like the iced waters back in her home, were warm. Suki knew it hadn’t been easy for Katara to forgive Zuko, either. “We’re not forgetting what he has done. And he’s just starting to get better, and yes, he still has a long way to go.” She said. “But we’re just looking forward.”

The taller girl nodded, and she embraced the other in a hug. Katara’s hands grabbed at the back of her shirt, hugging her tight. “We should get back.” Suki said, after a while.

Katara broke the hug and looked at her. “Okay. But I actually do have to pee, so if you don’t mind.”

Suki giggles. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

Sokka and Zuko were already back when the girls returned; Sokka sitting on the stairs, Zuko leaning against the railway. Suki sat beside Sokka, who smiled at her and offered her one of the meat slices. She smiled, declining it, to which he shrugged.

“Let’s go back in.” Zuko said. “We don’t want to miss the marvelous second act.” He rolled his eyes as he said it, and Suki heard Sokka giggle beside her.

On the second intermission, Sokka asked Suki to get him backstage, so he could give the actor playing his part some pointers. Even though it was a stupid idea, Suki decided to do it, if only to see Sokka happy. Or to make the play just a tiny bit better.

“Wait just one second.” Suki said, pushing the boy behind her as they hide against a corner in the backstage. Sokka was right behind her, his breath falling on the back of her neck, his warm hand on her arm.

Once she’s checked no one will notice them, she looked back at him. “Just act as if you were supposed to be here. If they see you being nervous, they’ll start to ask questions.” Sokka nodded, and they walked in nonchalantly.

Sokka even waved at one of the extras. Suki almost choked him right then and there.

When Sokka is done, they walked back out as if nothing had happened. On their way back, Sokka put his arm around her shoulders. “That was so cool.” He said. “We never do that kind of stuff.”

“Breaking into other people’s workplaces?” Suki said, raising her eyebrows.

Sokka chuckled. “No. I mean, you know. Stealth work, just you and me.”

The girl scoffed. “Yeah, I wonder why that is.”

Sokka looked down at her. “What do you mean?” Suki shook her head, looking away. “Come on, Suki. What is it?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s go back before the third act starts. I want to see if you’ve actually managed to make this hell just a little better.”

They walked back to Zuko’s house when the play was over. Sokka’s arm was still on her shoulders – it hadn’t moved since after they had left backstage, and he irradiated a warmth she had missed terribly the last few days.

When they got to building, everyone went to their rooms. Suki was brushing her hair, ready for bed, when there was a knock on the door.

She tiptoed her way to it and opened it. Sokka was there, still wearing his Fire Nation outfit. “Hi.” He said. “I think we should… talk.”

Suki nodded and moved to her left to let Sokka walk in. She sat in her bed, legs crossed, placing the hairbrush in her lap. “So?” she said. Sokka sat beside him, looking down at his hands.

“What did you mean back in the theatre? When you said… that.”

Suki sighed. She rubbed the palm of her hand with the opposite thumb. “You know, it’s just. It feels like you don’t have time for me lately.”

“What do you mean? We spend a lot of time together.”

“Yeah. Together, with the others. Since we came back from Boiling Islands, we have barely been alone just the two of us. And I get that we’re… there are other things to think about right now, we need to stop Fire Lord Ozai and Aang needs to learn how to firebend and all that, but… I don’t know, Sokka. It feels like you’re… neglecting me.”

Sokka frowned in confusion. “Neglecting you?” he said in a squeaky voice. “Why would you say that?”

“Sokka...” Suki sighed. “You didn’t even introduce me to your father. You introduced him to Zuko, but you didn’t introduce me to him. I had to introduce me myself, and I didn’t even know if I should have said I was your girlfriend or not.”

“That’s silly! Of course you are my girlfriend, Suki.” The girl raised her eyebrows.

“Am I? None of us ever asked the other. None of us have used the word before. Remember back when we left the Air Temple, how you invited me over to your tent and then forgot about it because Zuko showed up before I did?”

“I didn’t forget about it, Suki. You never showed up. I even asked you about it, if you remember. He just wanted to talk to me. We’re friends, we talk. I’m sorry that you’re against that.” Sokka looked at her, frowning. “Is that what this is all about? You hating Zuko?”

“No, Sokka. This is not about Zuko. Is about you and I.” she bit her lower lip, and closed his eyes. “Or maybe it is about Zuko.”

“I knew it. Suki, I tell you, Zuko is really not the same-“

“Not in that way.” She interrupted him. “He knew about Yue, didn’t he? He checked on you during the play.”

Sokka gaped, his frown relaxing. “Uh, yeah, but…”

“You told him. You didn’t tell me, your current girlfriend, but you told him.”

“It just came out, it’s not a big deal.”

“It seemed like a big deal when you were on the verge of tears while we were watching the play.” She crossed her arms on her chest.

Sokka sighed. “Suki, you’re not being fair.”

“No, Sokka. _You_ are not being fair. You are not being fair when you prefer to spend your time with Zuko instead of me, you’re not being fair when you ogle him while he firebends when I’m right there, sitting beside you; you’re not fair when you introduce him to your father before you do me, and you’re not fair when you tell him about the things that are hurting you, but not me.”

Sokka stared at her, in silence. She could see in his eyes that he knew she was right. And she could see how much it hurts him, too. Suki held his look. “Sokka. I just need you to answer one question.” The boy nodded. “What do you really feel for Zuko?”

Sokka frowned. “Suki…” he whispered.

“Sokka, I’m not going to be mad. I just… I just want you to be honest with me.” She said, taking his hand.

Sokka runned his thumb through the back of her hand. “It’s… it’s weird. I thinkt I like him. That I have for some time now.” He sighed. “You see, I thought at first maybe I was super excited because I haven’t seen around people my age since I was… since I was twelve, but then I realized it wasn’t that. On the way towards Boiling Rock, we… we started talking, and it had been so… nice of him to just jump on the opportunity to help me and my father, and he… I guess he kind of opened up a bit? About his life, and why he left the Fire Nation and something changed on that journey. But then you were there too and I obviously couldn’t do nothing about Zuko, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him, and I think he might feel the same way? But Suki, I don’t want to hurt you, I never meant to. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you; and I’m sorry if I have… I never wanted to, really.”

Suki smiled softly, raising her hand to Sokka’s face. She dried the tears off his cheeks. “I know. I know you didn’t want to hurt me, Sokka. And I appreciate it.” she kissed his forehead. “Can I ask you something else?” Sokka nodded. “Do you think you’ll be happy with him?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I really want to.”

She sighed. “Then you should tell him. I love you, Sokka. And I want you to be happy. If I have to let you go for that to happen… I will do it gladly. I’m always going to care for you. And if he breaks your heart I will personally break all of his bones.” Sokka chuckles.

“So you’re really not mad?” Suki shrugged.

“I mean, my boyfriend did just break up with me, so it’s not like I’m the happiest girl in the world right now.” Sokka chuckled. “But I’m not mad at you. I would never be mad at you for following your heart. And hey, if you two end up marrying, at least, I know of some Fire Nation old hags who will be very, very mad about that one gay international bound.”

Sokka laughed, and hugged her. “Thank you, Suki. I love you, too.”

“I know.” she replied, kissing his shoulder.

They hugged for a few minutes; Suki, too afraid of letting go; Sokka, too afraid to break her even more.

“I didn’t know you hated Daddy so much.” Izumi says. Suki laughs, putting her arm around the girl’s shoulders.

“Yeah, well. He ended up growing on me, you know? After all, he really was good. He saved your aunt Katara’s life, he offered us Kyoshis a place to stay and… he rebuilt the village.” She turns to look at her, bopping her nose. “And he gave me you.” Izumi giggles. “But that’s not the moral of the story. The thing is, when you first fall in love… or have your first crush, like me with Sokka, or you with Oyoru; you think that’s it. That will be the first and last time you will ever love or feel something so intense for someone. But it isn’t. Sokka was not the lost of my life, because he was Zuko’s. And after him, I met a lot of other people I loved, cared for, or had a crush on.”

“Like Wari?” Izumi asks.

The woman smiles. Wari and Suki had been dating almost since Izumi was born, so for her, Wari was just another one of her aunts – which Suki loved.

“Yeah. It might happen that the first person is the one, like it happened to Aang and Katara, or it might not. And that’s okay, there’s no need to be sad about it. And just because it doesn’t work out, doesn’t mean they’ll be out of your lives. Look at Sokka and me. We’re thick as thieves. He’s my best friend, and I don’t know what I’d do without him. He’s one of the most important people on my life.” She takes the girl and sits her in her lap. “So you hang in there with Oyoru, because she’s your friend, and if her boyfriend makes her happy, then you should be happy for her.” Izumi nods. “And if they ever happen to break up, and you still feel the same. Tell her. She might feel the same. She might not. But if she’s really your friend, she won’t care about that, and she’ll continue being your friend.”

“What if she doesn’t want to keep being my friend?” she asks. Suki kisses her forehead, smudging it with lipstick.

“Then you’re better off without her.” The little girl nods. “So? Did my story help?”

Izumi hums for a few seconds, holding her chin. “Yes, I think it did.”

“Great!” she hugs her. Izumi hugs the woman back. “Your Daddy is coming this way.” Suki whispers in her ear.

Izumi looks to her right, where Zuko is walking towards them, smiling. “Daddy!” she stands up, running towards him.

“Hey, turtleduck!” he greets her, picking her up. “What are you guys doing here?”

“I was… telling her a story.” Suki says, standing up and going towards her friend.

“Yeah? What story?” he asks. Suki looks at the girl in her father’s arms and smiles wickedly.

“Well, you know. Girl stuff.” She says, winking at the kid, who giggles, while Zuko looks between them confusedly.


	2. i don't know anything, but i know i miss you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was too excited to beta this, so any mistakes are completely my fault 
> 
> still, i hope you enjoy this chapter!

Izumi is fifteen when her cousins go spend a summer in Caldera. Kya, the middle child, who was born just a few months after Izumi was, brought a friend with her; knowing full well Izumi was too busy then with her Fire Princess businesses and her siblings were… well, her siblings.

Luckily enough, Izumi’s dads understood that this was an exceptional occasion, since Izumi and her cousins were only able to meet every few months, for only a bunch of days; and they cleared her schedule the most they could. She still had her classes and some other compromises, but she was exempt from hearing at her father meetings and other Royal stuff she probably was too young to be witnessing.

So Izumi, Kya, and her friend Nekara spent the whole summer together, and the Princess and the Water Tribe girl ended up becoming really good friends, for the joy of Kya.

She’s sixteen when, six months after her family and friend came back to the South Pole, she walks into her Dad’s office, her baby sister in her arms.

“Hey, Dad?” she says, peeking her head in the room. “Are you busy?” The Water Tribe ambassador raises his head from his scroll, smiling at his daughter and shaking his head and waving her hand, inviting her in. The Princess closes the door behind her with her foot, the baby in her arms squeaking when she spots her father. “Isiye’s shift is over.” She explains, pointing at her sister with her head. “And it’s Daddy’s turn, but his meeting ran long. Isiye said she would have stayed longer with no problem, but her youngest is sick and she had to go back before her husband left for his job and-“

“’Zumi.” Sokka interrupts her, laughing. “It’s okay. I can take care of my baby daughter.”

“Well, maybe you had other things to do. You know, important, royal things.” She shrugs.

Sokka stands up, walking towards her, and takes the baby from her arms, kissing her hairy head. “Penguin, there’s nothing that could ever be more important than you or Senna. Neither for me or your Daddy.”

Izumi smiles. Sokka goes back to sit on his chair, the baby on his lap; and his daughter sits on the visitor chair on the other side of the desk.

Senna tries to grab at Sokka’s quill, which he quickly takes off her reach. “Woops. That is not for babies, Nana.” He says. Izumi giggles. Sokka winks at her as he starts bouncing Senna. “Are you excited for our trip?”

Izumi’s smile widens. They hadn’t been down to the South Pole in at least two years, and she was really excited to go back. This time she was going as Princes of the Fire Nation instead of as the Chieftain’s granddaughter, but she was sure it would change nothing about her opinion on her father’s birthplace.

Even if she was pure Fire Nation blood, she loved the cold, and the snow. The South Pole, to her, was the place where they were a simple family, where she could sit in her grandfather’s lap as he told her stories of the war, and the traditions of the Tribe she was, undoubtedly, a part of. She cherished all her memories at the pole in the deepest of her heart, especially when they came down during midnight sun, when the days didn’t seem to end and Izumi sat in the snow between her dads, looking up at the sun that didn’t want to leave the sky.

She remembered her last time there, when her Dad took her ice dodging – a tradition, she had been told, was reserved for boys, but she was a Princess; and she was _technically_ heiress to the Chieftain position, so she could get a special treatment.

“Yeah. I really am. We haven’t seen atâtsiak in… a long time.” she shrugs. “He hasn’t even met Senna yet. And auntie Katara hasn’t been here since then, either.”

Sokka nods, sighing, as he looks down at the baby. “Yeah. They won’t be able to digest how big and beautiful she’s now. Aren’t you, Penguin?” he says in a squeaky voice, blowing raspberries in her daughter’s cheek. Izumi stares at the scene, smiling softly.

She bites her lip, and clears her throat. “Hey, Dad. Speaking of… do you remember Nekara?” Sokka looks at her, frowning.

“Uh… Kya’s friend? The one she brought over two summers ago?” Izumi nods. “Yeah, she was a nice kid. Why?”

“Well… we… we got along, like, incredibly easy. And since they went back to the South Pole, we’ve been writing to each other, and…”

“Tui and La.” Sokka interrupts her, smiling widely. “You like her?” Izumi sighs.

“I shouldn’t have told you.” she rolls her eyes.

“No, Penguin, that’s so great! Oh, I can’t believe you have a crush.” He leans on his desk, supporting his head on his fist. “Tell me and your sister all about it. We’ll listen.”

Izumi groans, throwing her head back. “There’s nothing to tell! I like her, and I’ve sent some letters that can maybe be read as flirty, but…” Sokka coos, and Izumi shakes her head. “I want to tell her in person. But I… I don’t know how.” She admits. Sokka looks at her, pouting. Izumi raises her eyebrows. “So… can you give me any advice?”

“Oh! Of course! Yes, right.” She looks down at Senna and then at Izumi. “Okay, it’s time for one of Dad’s stories.” He says, putting the scroll he had been writing in before and sitting Senna on his desk, facing him. “Our story starts many years ago, when the Hundred Year War finally ended thanks to me.”

“Wasn’t uncle Aang the one who took Ozai’s bending away? “

“Well technically yes, but I had a very important role on it. Anyway, who’s telling the story?”

Izumi raises her hands in defeat, and Sokka clears his throat.

“So, during that last fight, I broke my leg.” He says, knocking on his own thigh. “But your Daddy had it worse, because it was when your aunt Azula was still crazy and tried to kill your aunt Katara.” He shakes his head. “Bad times, Penguins.” Senna babbles something, and Sokka nods. “Exactly, baby.” Izumi chuckles. “So your Daddy, very heroically I might say, took the bolt of lightning for her, and that’s why he as that scar on his tummy.” He presses his pointer finger to Senna’s tummy, who squeals and tries to grab at his finger. “And for a few days, he was stuck in bed, Katara taking care of him and healing him, but he’d not wake up.” Sokka sighs. “I thought I was going to lose him forever.”

“Sokka. Let me you look at your leg.” Katara said. Sokka shook his head, his head fixed on Zuko’s sleeping frame.

He hadn’t woken up since he passed out after the Agni Kai, three days ago. Katara healed him three times a day, and Sokka stood by his side all day. He hadn’t moved since the guards of the palace took the Prince’s body and guided them to his old bedroom, placing him in the bed.

“I’m fine.”

“You broke your leg jumping off an airship. It isn’t fine.”

“I don’t care. You have to take care of him, not me.” Katara frowned, looking down at her brother.

“I can take care of both of you.” Sokka looked at her. Katara’s heat broke a little more. Sokka hadn’t stopped crying since he found out about what Zuko had done, how he took that bolt for her, and how he had faded after everything was done.

“It’s primordial you take care of him first. He’s the Fire Lord now. We need him to…” Sokka trailed off, choking on a sob.

He was sitting by the bed, leaning on it, his elbows supporting the weight of his upper body so he was closer to Zuko. The older boy had barely move these past three days, other than a few flinches of his fingers or eyes.

But Katara was doing everything she could. And he was going to get better.

The scar on his front was almost all healed up, and she could feel him slipping back to them.

The girl walked towards her brother, placing herself behind him and surrounding him with her arms.

“I know you’re worried, Sokka. We all are. But don’t worry, he’ll come back. They’re sending other healers from the North Pole, healers with more experience than me, and he’ll be back doing his ‘jerkbending’ in no time.”

“I know.” Sokka said. Katara knew he was not convinced, though. She wasn’t even sure if he had listened to her at all.

“But I need to heal your leg. Every day that passes is making it worse for you.”

“When he wakes up.” he stated. “Then you can heal my leg. Not before that.”

Katara frowned. She hugged her brother tighter, placing her chin on his head. “Okay.” she muttered.

Two days later, the healers from the Northern Water Tribe arrived to the Fire Nation palace. They went straight towards Zuko’s room, ready to start with an intensive healing session, but they made Sokka leave.

“We appreciate your care for your friend, but we need to do our jobs without distractions.” One of the healers said. Sokka almost threw a fit, but Suki tugged at his sleeve and looked at him, asking him to stay calm. Sokka seethed and left the room, supporting his weight on his friend.

Katara used the time they were waiting for the healers to finish to heal Sokka’s leg. Sokka didn’t talk the whole time, only looking to the door of the room they were in, waiting for someone (anyone) to come in and tell them that Zuko was okay, that he woke up and he would live a long, healthy life.

No one did, of course.

By the time Katara finished her session, it was time to have dinner. Sokka couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten (was that before Sozin’s comet?), but he didn’t have appetite. He had a knot on his stomach that wasn’t letting him eat. The others noticed, but they said nothing.

After dinner, everyone went to bed. Katara made him go too. He needed to rest, she said. Sokka obliged, going to the untouched room the staff had prepared for him, where he hadn’t been since he arrived at the palace.

After an hour, he left the room, limping towards Zuko’s room, ready to get in, or, at least, stay by the door in case something happened. 

He was halfway through when he heard someone talking. “Katara said you had to use your cane, Sokka.”

On his left, Aang was sitting in one of the window’s ledge. “I was…”

“Going to see Zuko. I know.” he smiled, jumped off the ledge and airbended his way to the floor. “I’ll go with you. There’s no need to break your other leg!”

Sokka frowned and nodded. They walked in silence, until Aang talked. “I’m worried about him too, you know?”

“I know.” Aang shrugged.

“We all are. But you… you’re worried on a different level, Sokka.”

Sokka doesn’t answer.

“I know you think I’m just a kid and I don’t understand.” Aang continued. “But I do. You feel about Zuko the same way I feel about Katara, don’t you?” Sokka stopped, turning to look at him. “It’s okay! You don’t need to be embarrassed. I know some nations think differently, but the Air Nomads loved love in every way.” Sokka doesn’t know what to say. He hadn’t even thought about that before. Everything between Zuko and him had always felt so… right, it didn’t even occur to him that some people wouldn’t even think about that. And the Fire Nation wasn’t especially tolerant, he knew that. What if Zuko… but he couldn’t. It had been reciprocated; he knew that. At least, he thought so. “And I’m not telling anyone, either. I’m happy for you guys!”

“Aang. How do you know?” Sokka asked, his throat drier than it had ever been.

“Sokka, we’ve traveled the world together. I know when you’re flirting with someone.” Aang shrugged. “And I could see Zuko’s reactions, too. Plus, you do know Toph can feel our pulses, right?”

Sokka frowned and looked away, walking again. Aang chuckled and followed him.

“I’m worried that… I messed up.” Sokka admitted. “When Suki came back, I didn’t want to hurt her. And Zuko and I weren’t… anything, we hadn’t even talked about it, but we both could see what was there, I think. And I don’t know if when he wakes up… He has his palace back, his honor back. He has Mai back. What if he doesn’t want me anymore?” he ended in a whisper.

Aang looked at him, and hugged him from the side. “I’m sure he does, Sokka. I’ve seen how he looks at you. Feelings like that aren’t forgotten that easily. Believe me, I’d know.”

Sokka smiled down at the Avatar, hugging him back. “I can’t believe you are my brother now.”

Aang chuckled again, and they broke apart, setting back their course towards Zuko’s room.

When Zuko woke up a week later, it was to Sokka beside him, his head resting on the bed, snoring softly.

Zuko smiled down at him and ran his fingers through his hair, out of his wolftail at the moment, putting it out of his face.

The soft strokes made Sokka scrunch his nose and eyes, and Zuko’s smile widened. Sokka opened an eye and looked towards Zuko, seeing him already staring down at his face.

It took him a few seconds, but Sokka opened both eyes and sat back, looking at his friend. “You’re awake!” he said. Zuko let out a laugh.

“I guess I am.” He whispered. Then, he placed his hand on the mattress and tried to sit. Sokka stood up to help him, but winced at the pain in his leg. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I broke my leg on the battle, but I’m fine.” Zuko’s eyes widened.

“You what? Why didn’t Katara heal you!?” the Prince exclaimed. Sokka remembered then, Zuko had woken up.

“Stay here. I need to go get Katara and the other healers.”

“The other… what?” Zuko asked, confused, as Sokka walked away towards the door.

“Guard!” he called out. One of Zuko’s guards peeked from the other side of the door. “Call my sister and the healers. Zuko woke up.”

“Yes, sir.” The guard said, leaving his place. Sokka closed the door and walked towards the bed again.

“Since when do you order the Fire Lord guards around?” Zuko teased. Sokka rolled his eyes, sitting on the bed, face to face with his friend.

“Since I have permission from the Fire Lord.” Sokka smiled. “You were out for two weeks, buddy. You’ve missed a lot.” Zuko opened his mouth.

“Two weeks? What? What happened? Who’s Fire Lord?”

“Let me sum it up to you. You faded after the Agni Kai with your sister, Aang took your father’s bending away, because apparently, he can do that now; and we incarcerated him. Your uncle is provisional Fire Lord, because we didn’t know when you were going to wake up, and there’s been like a million reunions between the nations’ leaders to see where we go from here.” Sokka looked at his right. “And I’ve been sitting in this chair for two weeks, give or take.”

“You’ve been sitting here… the whole time?” Zuko asked. Sokka nodded, smiling softly.

“I wanted to be here when you woke up.” he says. Zuko doesn’t answer. “Look, Zuko, I know after Boiling Rocks I…”

“Zuko!” a deep voice interrupted him from behind. The two boys turned towards the door to see Iroh smiling with tears in his eyes, running towards the bed. “Nephew. I thought I had lost you.” he whispers.

Sokka saw Zuko smile as he hugged his uncle, and a few tears rolling down his eyes. He looked away, standing up from the bed. His friends entered the room, too, all of them excited to see Zuko alive and well. Sokka felt Suki’s look on him, and he raised his eyebrows. She shook her head, smiling at him.

As soon as Zuko got out of bed, though, he was pushed around by his staff, fitting him for his Fire Lord attire, asking him how he wanted his coronation party to look like. It was overwhelming, and worst of all, it didn’t let Sokka get near him at all.

Every time he tried to go and talk to his friend, even if just to spend some quality time with him, something else the future Fire Lord had to fix came up. It angered Sokka, even more so when he realized that was what life was going to be once Zuko was officially crowned.

Time was slipping away from Sokka’s fingers, and so was Zuko.

The day before the coronation, Sokka was called to Iroh’s chambers. When he arrived, the old man was waiting for him sitting in front of the Pai Sho table, with a little tray with two cups and a steaming kettle by his side.

“Sokka.” He said. “Welcome. Please, sit.” He gestured to the space in front of him, on the other side of the table. Sokka obliged, sitting as he looked at the man, confused. “Have you ever played Pai Sho?” Iroh asked.

Sokka shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”

“It’s my favorite game! I will teach you how to play it, it’s very popular here in the Fire Nation; and I assume you intend to stay here for a while.” Sokka blinked twice as the man started to place the tiles on their places.

“Uh…” Sokka only managed to say. Iroh chuckled.

“It’s okay, boy. We’re just playing! Don’t feel intimidated, although we both know I am going to win.”

Sokka only nodded, waiting for the man to explain the game.

“You see, young boy, this game is, much like war all about strategy. I understand you’re a strategist, yourself?” Sokka looked at his friend’s uncle and nodded.

“I… try to, at least.”

“Your father told me about you leading your tribe during the eclipse. He was really proud of you. Not every kid your age could do something like that.”

Sokka blushed, scratching the palm of his left hand with his right one. “Thank you, Iroh.”

The old man smiled and started explaining the game to him. Sokka listened with attention, asking when he had any doubts, and no long after that, they started the game.

After a while, Iroh started talking again.

“I have noticed you’ve been trying to talk to my nephew for some time now, unsuccessfully, right?”

Sokka looked at the man, but his eyes were fixed on the board. He cleared his throat. “Yes. I haven’t seen him in a while, really.”

“His new job is a busy one, but also really stressful.” The man said, taking the white lotus tile and placing it in the middle of the board. Sokka frowned. That movement made no sense. “I’m glad his friends are sticking around for now.”

Sokka nodded. “I’m sorry I can’t be for much longer. At least Mai, Suki, and Ty Lee are staying.” He shrugged.

“But you haven’t made up your mind yet, have you?” the man said. Sokka frowned. “I can see it in your eyes. Does that have anything to do with what you want to say to Zuko?”

Sokka didn’t reply, lowering his head towards the board. He looked at the tiles Iroh had moved. He still couldn’t understand the man’s strategy.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed, Sokka. Love is not embarrassing.” He said. Sokka looked up at him, tears in his eyes.

“What if he doesn’t want me back, Iroh? I hurt him and… Mai is back. And she loves him and has never hurt him. He deserves to have someone like that by his side.”

Iroh smiled. “Zuko loves Mai terribly, since they were kids. Everyone in the palace does, we know how much she cares under that façade of hers. And we know she’d be an incredible Fire Lady.” Sokka looked away. He had heard enough. He didn’t need anyone reminding him how he had fucked up. “But she’s not the one for him. I know my nephew, Sokka; and while you haven’t been able to be by his side the last few days, I have, and I can tell you, all you need to do is ask. He will say yes.”

“But…” Sokka tried to protest.

“Do you really think you’re not good enough for him?” Iroh laughed. “I don’t think that’s the case, young boy. You’re an incredibly smart boy, and you’ve traveled the whole word. You know what needs to be changed; and you’re going to be an amazing counselor for both the Fire Lord and the Avatar. And even if you were not… my nephew, as much as I love him, is not known for making the best decisions, is he?” Sokka didn’t answer, only stared at the man. “I think you should stay for a while, Sokka.” Iroh continued. “You will be a great addition to Zuko’s council. And he’ll be happy to have you here, if that’s what you want.”

The man placed one last tile and winked at the young boy. “Remember the placement of the tiles. It will come in handy in the future.” Then, he turned towards the tray and poured some tea in both cups, offering one to Sokka. “Taste this, it’s going to be the star item on my new tea shop!”

On the day of Zuko’s coronation, the palace was upside down. The staff ran up and down, bringing everyone everything they asked for; the councilmen pestered Zuko and Aang, making sure they had memorized their speeches and were ready for the day.

Once again, they weren’t allowed to see Zuko, but Katara and him managed to sneak into Aang’s bedroom to see him before the big moment.

The young monk was wearing formal Air Nomad tunics, that had been made for him for this day only. He looked at himself in the mirror, with a wide smile and a little blush on his cheeks. Katara, behind him, smiled proudly. Sokka looked at them from his chair, his cane on his lap.

“You look great, Aang.” he said. The kid turned towards him, his smile not fading at all. “Yellow is really your color.”

“Thank you! Blue is your color too.” Sokka chuckled, standing up. Katara walked towards him so she could help him up, but he waved at her.

“I can do it, Katara.” He smiled at his sister. She frowned but nodded.

“We should do a session tonight, after the party.”

“What we should do.” Sokka said, rolling his eyes. “Is leave already. Aang has yet to go to Zuko, and we need to find Dad.”

Katara sighed. “Fine.” She turned towards Aang. “You’re going to do great.” She said, hugging him. “We’ll be cheering on you down there. Tell Zuko we said good luck.”

“Of course.” Aang said, walking them to the door.

Katara and Sokka went to the main patio of the palace, where the coronation was going to take place. There, thousands of people of every nation mingled with each other. Sokka didn’t think he had seen so many people of so many different places acting like this in his life.

Change was already happening, and he and his friends were a part of that.

He hadn’t felt better in his life.

When they finally spotted his dad and Bato, they hugged. They were going to be a family, now. At last. Sokka beamed with excitement.

Suki was there too, with her sisters in arms, and Ty Lee, who had recently joined them. Mai arrived a little after that, her face looking exactly the same as it always did.

Katara shot him a look when she appeared, but Sokka ignored her, playing it cool.

Finally, Zuko came out to the top of the stairs in front of them. Sokka smiled. He looked great with his royal clothes, his hair up in the traditional topknot. When he started talking, Sokka felt his father press the hand on he had on his shoulder. Sokka looked back at him, an received a wink back.

Blushing, he turned back in time to see Aang join Zuko. He looked to his right, to Katara. She was slightly blushing, but also smiling brighter than he had ever seen her. She was happy, and he was happy for her.

Zuko said his speech, the one he had been rehearsing for who knows how long, and Sokka was hypnotized by his words. Usually, the soon-to-be-Fire-Lord was awkward and not so eloquent, but up there, in this moment, it felt like he had been born to do this. Like the only purpose of his existence was to guide these people to a better, brighter future.

When he stopped talking, everyone cheered and applauded him. Sokka was a long way from him, but he was sure Zuko was blushing. He smiled a little; it felt like a little secret between them.

Finally, Zuko kneeled in front of the sages, who put the golden piece on his topknot and officially crowned him Fire Lord. The multitude roared, cheered, and clapped. Sokka let his cane fall to the ground, raising his hands on top of his head to clap as hard and loud as he could. He could her his father chuckling behind him, but he didn’t care. His friend was the Fire Lord! _Zuko_ was the Fire Lord.

Everything was going to be so different.

They celebrated a party after that. It was only Zuko’s council, the sages, and his close friend, but still, there was enough people in the room that it took Sokka a few tries to finally get to talk to Zuko.

(And the cane was not helping at all).

He had had eyes on Zuko the entire night, and when finally all the councilmen had approached him, shook his hand and congratulated him, Sokka slipped between people as fast as he could to reach his friend.

“Hey!” Sokka called him. “Zuko!”

The older boy turned to look at the source of the voice, smiling softly when he spotted him. “Sokka.” He whispered, walking towards him. He opened his arms to embrace Sokka, which didn’t waste any time and quickly put his arms around the firebenders’ waist, his on his shoulders. “I haven’t seen you in a while, how’s your leg?”

Sokka looked down as they broke the hug. “I guess it’s healing. Katara is taking care of it. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in action in no time!” he smiled. Zuko smiled back at him. “So? How’s it feel to be Fire Lord?”

Zuko sighed. “Stressful. I don’t think I’ve slept ever since I woke up from…” he trailed off pointing at his chest. “You know.” Sokka nodded. “I hope from now on it’ll be… somewhat less stressing. At least rebuilding the world isn’t a task just for me. Aang and the other leaders will play a part, too. Including your father.” Sokka raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I guess my father… Uh. Yeah, he’ll help.” Sokka said, swallowing. “I’m probably going to stay for a few months too… in case you need, uh advice, or a second opinion, or something.”

Zuko’s eyebrows raised to his forehead. “I didn’t know that. But… yeah, that’s… that’s good. It’s great. I’d love to have you here longer.”

Sokka nodded, looking down at the floor. Then, he took a deep breath and raised his head, frowning. “Zuko, there’s something we need to talk about.”

Zuko looked confused. “Oh. Okay? What is it?”

Sokka shook his head. “Not here. Let’s go… somewhere private? Please.”

Zuko nodded, still frowning. “Okay. Let’s go to my garden.”

They walked out of the room, through the halls of the palace, where a few guards stood, ignoring them as they walked in silence.

Finally, they reached Zuko’s family private garden, where the turtleduck pond was.

“Be careful.” Zuko advised him. “The cobblestones might make your cane slide.”

“I’ll be fine, Zuko.” Sokka said, rolling his eyes.

There was a few stone benches around the pond, and they sat in one of them, one beside the other, facing the sleeping birds.

Sokka looked to his right, where Zuko was staring at the pond with a little smile plastered on his face. It was dark, and Sokka couldn’t really see much more than his silhouette, but even like that, he looked beautiful.

“Zuko.” Sokka started. “I’m sorry.” He chocked out. Zuko looked at him. He looked even more confused than before.

“What? Why? You… you didn’t do anything.” he tilted his head to the side. “You didn’t, right?”

Sokka chuckled, looking away to the pond. “I took you for granted. That’s what I did.”

“What do you mean?” Zuko asked.

“After Boiling Rock, when Suki came back. I… I went back to her instead of… taking care of you, of what we had, or were; thinking that when I grew the balls to tell Suki the truth you’d be waiting for me. Now I realize that’s not the truth. That you have…” he gestured around himself. “all this, and all these people, and Mai is back too, and you’re the literal Fire Lord; so I guess. I guess I’ve lost you, and it’s my fault. And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just jumped back at Suki like that, not when we were that close to… whatever.”

Zuko smiled beside him, and placed his forehead on Sokka’s shoulder. “You’re a fool, Sokka.”

Sokka looked at him. “Yeah, I know, but there’s no need to rub it in my face.”

Zuko giggled. “No, I mean… you’re a fool. You did a foolish thing, it’s true. And it hurt me a little, not going to lie. But… you’re a fool to think I’d not want you. Even if I am the Fire Lord, and I have all this, as you so eloquently phrased it;” Sokka rolls his eyes. “I still want you, Sokka. I will always want you.”

Sokka frowned. “You do? You’re not saying this to get back at me or anything, do you?”

Zuko shook his head. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know, you were evil for the most part of the year we’ve known each other. You fought me a lot, dude. This is not the worst thing you could do.”

Zuko sighed. “I love listening to you, you know? But now, shut up.”

Zuko leaned in, closing his eyes as his lips made contact with Sokka’s. Sokka raised one hand to place it on Zuko’s cheek, rubbing his thumb across it.

When they broke apart, Zuko smiled, staring into Sokka’s eyes. Sokka cleared his throat. “That was really hot.” Zuko laughed, standing up from the bench. “Wait, where are you going?”

“I’d love to stay here, sweetheart.” Zuko said, not turning back. “But I have to play Fire Lord for a little bit longer.” When he was about to step inside the halls again, he turned to look at Sokka, who was still sitting on the stone bench. “Meet me in my bedroom after the party is over, okay?”

Sokka smiled dumbly. “Okay. Okay, I’ll be there.”

Zuko smiled back at him, and disappeared in the darkness of the hall.

Izumi frowns, looking at her smiling father. “Where’s the advice in that story?” she asks.

“Well, the thing is, I was a hundred percent sure your Daddy was going to kick me out of the palace that night. I basically broke his trust by getting back together with Suki. But the circumstances were better than I expected and look at us! Now we’re married and have not one, but two beautiful daughters.” He said, kissing Senna’s head. “And we basically rule the world, too.”

Izumi laughs. “I didn’t know you were such a sucker for Daddy.” She says. “I always thought it was the other way around.”

Sokka frowns. “It is! Your father kisses the floor I step on. He’s disgusting.”

“You both are.” She says. Then, she sighs. “I don’t know, Dad. Nekara and I are not… that close. I’m afraid it might break our friendship for good.”

“That’s what I thought about your father and I too at first, Penguin. But life proved me wrong. You do whatever you feel is better, but personally, I think you should tell her. And if she doesn’t feel the same… well, her lost. Literally. She’s going to pass the chance to be consort of two whole nations. Well, one and a half, really. But you know what I mean.”

“Did you only marry Daddy so you could be consort Fire Lord?” Izumi says, raising her eyebrow.

“And to have you girls!”

Izumi shakes her head, frowning. “Dad, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“You don’t make any sense.”

“You raised me, so that might be on you.”

Sokka stared at her, his lips pressed on a line. “Leave, before I ground you.”

Izumi laughs, walking towards him. “I love you, Dad.” She says, hugging him.

“I love you too.” he says, turning to face her and rub their noses together. “Can you go to your Daddy’s office and tell him we’re going out for dinner tonight on your way? I want to take Senna out to see the city.”

“Okay. I’ll tell him. Thank you for the story, by the way. Last time I asked Daddy how you two got together he only said he kicked you on the face, you threw your boomerang at him, and then you became friends.”

Sokka hums, looking down at Senna, who coos. “Yeah, that sounds right too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are always nice to read, so please leave some!


	3. when you are young they assume you know nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been writing this non-stop for almost 4h so if there's any mistakes don't mention it i'm going to edit the whole fic tomorrow plEASE bare with me thank you

Izumi is twenty when she has her first real heartbreak.

She runs back home when it happens, looking down at the floor the whole time. Even though she runs into some staff members, and probably her little sister and her nanny too; she does not look up at all until she reaches her room, closes the door behind her and drops in bed, starting to cry. She cries for what feels like hours, and by the time someone goes to check on her, her pillow is damp.

She does not look up when she hears the door being opened, still sobbing on the golden pillow between her arms, but she can feel the weight beside her on the bed when the person who has entered the room sits on it, as they start caressing her hair.

“Izumi.” Her father says, his raspy voice turned soft, the same way he does when he speaks to his toddler. “What’s wrong?”

Izumi does not answer, only shifts so, instead of having her head on the pillow, it is on the Fire Lord’s lap. The man keeps running his fingers through his daughter’s raven hair but doesn’t say anything else. 

After a while, Izumi takes off her glasses, drying the tears off her eyes with the back of her hand and looks up at her father. “Syra and I broke up.” She sobs, then breaks up crying again.

Zuko’s face softens, and he places his other hand on the young girl’s cheek, running his thumb across her cheekbone. “Oh, ‘Zumi.” He whispers. “I’m so sorry, honey. Do you want to talk about it?” Izumi shakes her head. “Okay. Then let it all out, and when you’re ready, I’ll be here for you, okay?”

Izumi doesn’t answer, rather keeps crying on her father’s lap, hiding her face on his stomach. After a while, she falls asleep with his fingers running through her hair.

When she wakes up again, she can hear soft voices around her. Opening her eyes, she takes the room in and sees her two dads talking in whispers. Zuko is still on the same position as when she had fallen asleep, while Sokka sits in a chair in front of his husband. Her little sister, Senna, is sitting on Sokka’s lap with her doll on her hands, paying no attention to the adults.

The older girl sits up, making the adults focus all their attention on her, rather their conversation.

“Hey, Penguin.” Sokka greets her. “Daddy told me what happened. I’m so sorry.”

Izumi sighs, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the dried tears, and puts her glasses on again. Zuko and Sokka are both looking at her.

“Are you feeling better?” Zuko asks. She shrugs and grabs the brush off her nightstand, walking towards the mirror on top.

“No.” Izumi confesses. “But there’s no point on staying here crying the whole day. I have things I need to do; and so do all of you.”

Sokka frowns at his oldest daughter. “Izumi, don’t be stubborn. You have every right to be sad if you want to. And your father and I can push back a few things if you need us to stay with you.”

“Or, if it makes you feel better, we can call your mothers. I’m sure they’ll be happy to help you.” Zuko suggests. Izumi shakes her head.

“No, there’s no need. Dad, we have a meeting with the ambassador from the South.” She says, looking at her father.

Sokka sighs, looking at his husband. The older man only shrugs and takes the toddler off his lap, standing up with her in his arms. “Senna and I will be waiting for you for dinner, then. Don’t be late.”

“Yeah! Or we will eat all the food!” Senna agrees, making her father chuckle as he kisses her forehead, and her sister smile softly at her.

“I promise you we’ll be there. We have Water Tribe dinner today!” Sokka cheers. Senna cheers with him.

“Dad.” Izumi pressures. “We need to go.”

“Right, right. Sorry. We’ll see you later.” He tells his husband, waving goodbye to him and their daughter. After they leave the room, Sokka places his arm on top of the Princess’s shoulders. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks. Izumi nods.

“Yeah, it’s just a break-up. I’ll be over it soon.” Sokka kisses her temple.

“Okay. But if you need to talk, I can call Doctor Wang Fire, and…”

“Dad. I love you, but talking to you with a fake beard doesn’t really help as much as you think it does.” Sokka makes an offended sound, placing his hand on his chest, making his daughter chuckle and roll his eyes.

“My own daughter, breaking my heart like this. I can’t believe this. Outrageous, I say.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, let’s go see that new ambassador.” Izumi turns to look at him. “Who do you think it is?”

“As long as it isn’t any of your grandfathers again, I’m good with it. Those were the most straining years of my life. They were worse than you or your sister as babies, honestly.” Izumi giggles.

“You know what? Somehow I can believe that.”

A week later, Izumi walks into her father’s office.

The Fire Lord is sitting behind his desk, his hair up in a topknot as usual, but the golden piece that usually ties it together is resting on the desk this time. He barely notices her daughter’s entrance: he’s more than used to her waltzing in, grabbing documents and scrolls to prepare for her meetings and presentations.

Izumi is getting closer to being Fire Lord every day, and Zuko and Sokka couldn’t be prouder.

“Daddy.” She calls his attention, making the man look up with raised eyebrows. “I need to ask you something.” She says in a low voice, sitting on the big chair on her side of the desk.

“Sure.” He says, putting his scroll away. “What do you need?”

Izumi sighs, closing her eyes and throwing her head back. “Syra came by today. She wants us to get back together.”

Zuko smiles. “That’s wonderful!” Then, he frowns. “Isn’t it?”

“I mean, maybe?” Izumi shrugs, fidgeting with her own fingers. “I don’t know if I should say yes, though. I mean, she broke up with me for a reason. She didn’t say why, but she did. So why would she want to get back together then?”

“Maybe she realized she was wrong. All of us do stupid things when we’re young, thinking we’re doing the right ones. I mean, look at me. I’m probably the world’s champion on doing stupid things when I was young.” Izumi chuckles, then shakes her head.

“I don’t know, Daddy. What was it like for you? When it happened to you and Dad, I mean.”

Zuko frowns. “You know about that?” Izumi shrugs.

“Suki told me when I was twelve. And Dad told a few years ago, too.” Zuko hums.

“Toph never told you anything? Now, that’s a surprise.” He shakes his head. “Anyway. So, you already know when your Dad and I saved your grandfather and aunt from the Boiling Rock, he… distanced himself, to put it in a way.” Izumi nods. “I’m not going to lie. It hurt. A lot. I thought I had done something wrong. Turns out it was all your Dad being a fool.” He smiles softly. “God, it’s been so long. I can’t believe it even happened.”

Zuko opened his eyes slowly. He took in the room around him.

Quickly, he realized it was the room he had grown up in. He was in the Fire Nation palace, lying on his bed, covered with his silk sheets.

Had he dreamt it all? Had he dreamt that he stood up to his father, that he went on to help the Avatar? Had he dreamt that he saved Katara from his sister’s bolt?

Had he dreamt Sokka?

He tried to sit up, but the pain between his chest and his stomach didn’t let him. Groaning softly, he slowly supported himself on his elbows and sat up. it was then that he noticed the slim body on his left.

 _Sokka_.

He hadn’t dreamt anything, then. Neither Sokka, or… or the Agni Kai against his sister, if the pain on his front was anything to go by.

And judging by where he was right then, he was positive they had won. Aang had defeated his father.

He sighed, and smiled down at the sleeping body that was leaning on the bed.

Sokka sat in a chair beside his bed, one of his legs bandaged. He had his hair down, which Zuko absolutely loved, and his face was scrunched up in a frown.

Slowly, he reached to the younger boy’s head, running his fingers through his wild hair, placing it out of his face on behind his ear. Sokka scrunched his nose and slowly opened his eyes, making Zuko smile even more.

He sat back, rubbing his eyes, and looked at him. After a second of just frowning, confused, his eyes widened in surprise. “You’re awake!”

Zuko let out a laugh. “I guess I am.” He whispered. He placed his hands on the mattress, trying to move to sit on the edge of the bed, but he groaned in pain at the tug on his chest. Sokka stood up to help him, but winced. “Are you okay?” Zuko whispered.

“Yeah. I broke my leg on the battle, but I’m fine.” The Prince’s eyes widened.

“You what? Why didn’t Katara heal you!?” he exclaimed. Sokka didn’t answer, rather stood there, looking at him for a few seconds. Then, he turned towards the door.

“Stay here. I need to go get Katara and the other healers.”

“The other… what?” Zuko asked, confused, as Sokka walked away and opened the door.

“Guard!” he called out. One of Zuko’s guards peeked from the other side of the door. “Call my sister and the healers. Zuko just woke up.”

“Yes, sir.” The guard said, leaving his place. Sokka closed the door and walked towards the bed again.

“Since when do you order the Fire Lord guards around?” Zuko teased him. But actually, what?

Sokka rolled his eyes, sitting on the bed, face to face with his friend.

“Since I have permission from the Fire Lord.” Sokka smiled. “You were out for two weeks, buddy. You’ve missed a lot.”

Zuko opened his mouth. Then he gaped, twice.

“Two weeks? What? What happened? Who’s Fire Lord?”

“Let me sum it up to you.” Sokka clapped, looking at his friend. “You faded after the Agni Kai with your sister, Aang took your father’s bending away, because apparently, he can do that now; and we incarcerated him. Your uncle is provisional Fire Lord, because we didn’t know when you were going to wake up, and there’s been like a million reunions between the nations’ leaders to see where we go from here.” Sokka looked at his right. “And I’ve been sitting in this chair for two weeks, give or take.”

Suddenly, Zuko’s heart started beating very, very fast.

“You’ve been sitting here… the whole time?” Zuko asked. Sokka nodded, smiling softly.

“I wanted to be here when you woke up.” he said. Zuko didn’t answer. “Look, Zuko, I know after Boiling Rock I…”

“Zuko!” a deep voice interrupted Sokka from the door. The two boys turned towards it to find Iroh smiling with tears in his eyes, running towards the bed. “Nephew. I thought I had lost you.” he whispered.

Zuko smiled as he hugged his uncle, and a few tears rolled down his eyes.

Sokka stood up from the bed, leaving him and his uncle reunite. Not long after that, the rest of their friends entered the room, surrounding him with hugs and cheery words. Zuko blushed a little, and in the end, Iroh pushed them all away from the room, noticing his nephew’s overwhelming.

When it was just the two of them, Iroh sat on the chair where Sokka had stayed by his side for two weeks. _Agni_. It was hard to believe.

“How are you feeling?” Iroh asked. Zuko sighed.

“Like the Avatar’s bison stepped on me several times.” Iroh laughs, looking down at his nephew. “But I’ll be fine.”

“Of course, you will. You’re too stubborn to die.” It’s Zuko’s time to laugh now. The old man runs a hand down his hair. Zuko chewed on his lip.

“Uncle. What happened to them?” Iroh sighed.

“Your father has been imprisoned. Aang decided to spare his life, but he took away his bending. He can’t harm you anymore. He won’t harm you anymore.” Zuko’s eyes got watery, and he swallowed before he asked:

“What about her?”

“I decided to put her in a mental facility, where she will get help and hopefully get better. She suffered under your father’s hands almost as much as you did, Zuko. Even if she doesn’t see it now, in the future, she’ll understand. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to visit her anytime you want.”

Zuko nodded. He could feel the tears running down his face, but neither said anything.

“So, what happens now?” Zuko asked.

Iroh shrugged. “It’s up to you.” he said, confirming Zuko’s worst thoughts. “You’re still young, my boy. You have your whole life in front of you. And I still have a few years ahead of me before I start losing my sanity.”

Zuko nodded, then frowned, looking down to his joint hands on his lap. After a few moments, he looked back up to his uncle.

“You never wanted this. You never wanted the palace, or the royalty. You never wanted the crown.” He started. “I don’t want to put that burden on your shoulders. And you’ve suffered enough, mostly because of my father, and by me. I think you should go back to Ba Sing Se, and open the Jasmine Dragon again.”

“Zuko…” his uncle tried to interrupt him, but the Prince raised his hand.

“Uncle, I’ve never seen you happier than then. I know you will be miserable if you stay here. I don’t want you to. Make what’s left of your life, and I hope it’s a long one, because I don’t know what I would do without you; the happiest you can. That’s an order from the Fire Lord.”

Iroh smiled, reaching up to put his hand on his nephew’s cheek. “You’ve grown up to be such a wise young man, Prince Zuko.”

“I’ve had the greatest teacher.” Zuko replied, smiling softly.

Zuko was advised by the healers to not step out of bed for at least another week.

But Zuko did not listen, and two days after that, Ty Lee and Suki, both dressed in their Kyoshi Warrior gear, ran into him stepping out of the bedroom.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Zuko heard. He turned back slowly, facing the two girls in front of him with crossed arms.

“Uhm. I’m taking a walk. The healers said it was good for my scar.” He lied. Suki raised her eyebrow. “I’m serious!”

The two girls looked at each other, then nodded at the same time.

Before he knew it, Ty Lee had pressed her fingers on different spots of his body, and Suki caught him as he fell, feeling his whole body go soft.

“This is unfair! You can’t just chi-block me into bed!” he complained. Suki rolled her eyes as she dragged him back to his bed.

That same day, he tried to escape twice more. Both times, Suki and Ty Lee were waiting for him on his door.

Both times, he was dragged back into bed after being chi-blocked.

The day after that, Mai waltzed inside his bedroom. He was standing by the window when she did, looking out to the garden right under it.

He turned his face to look at her as soon as he heard the doors close. He widened his eyes, and gasped.

“Mai!” he whispered, walking towards.

They met in the middle, and Mai hugged him, careful of the scar on his chest. “Hey.” She spoke.

Zuko hugged her tighter, and they stayed like that for a while.

When they broke apart, Mai held his hand and guided him to the bed. They sat on the edge, facing each other.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, running her fingers through the bandage.

“I’m doing better. But I would be even better if those two would let me out of this room. I feel like I’m going insane.” Mai smiled at that. She looked up at him, then brushed the hair out of his forehead.

“I’m glad you’re doing okay, Zuko.” She whispered. “I talked to your Uncle before coming here.”

“And?”

“Are you sure about this?” Zuko sighed.

“I spent all these years letting my father do horrible things to the people of this world. I spent all these years making my Uncle suffer. I can’t let him stay here to fix what his brother broke. It must be me. If it isn’t… I don’t know how to explain it, but if I just stood behind and watched, I’d feel guilty my whole life.”

Mai nodded, then kissed his forehead. “I understand. I just want you to know you’re going to need a lot of help. That’s what I’m here for.” She leaned back, staring at him. “I’ll be your right hand.”

Zuko didn’t say anything. Then, he nodded. “Fine. Thank you, Mai.”

“Of course.”

“And thank you. For what you did, back in Boiling Rock.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I only did it because I love you, Zuko.”

Zuko swallowed, widening his eyes. He took her hand and sighed. “Mai, I think there’s something I need to tell you.”

Mai snorted. “I know, Zuko. I said I love you, not that I’m in love with you.” Zuko frowned.

“What?”

“I was there, Zuko. And I know you. You’re incredibly obvious.”

“I am not!”

Mai rolled her eyes, standing up, and turned back. “I’m going to talk to your Uncle. We have a lot of things to get ready before your coronation.”

Zuko sighed as he saw her leave.

He was really doing this, huh?

The moment he was allowed out of bed, he was pushed into his very first official meeting.

It was weird to be sitting in the exact same place as his father was not so long ago. especially since the last meeting he had attended had… not had a happy ending, to sum it up.

But it was different now. The room was filled with people he trusted, people he knew would never hurt him (well, he was not entirely sure Mai will not punch him once he was recovered, but she meant no _real_ harm).

His eyes swept around the table, taking in the people sitting around it: Mai was on his right, Uncle on his left; Suki sat beside Mai as representative of the Kyoshi Warriors. Sitting on Uncle’s left were some members of the Order of the White Lotus: Piandao, Jeong Jeong and Bumi. Next to them, right in front of him; were Sokka and Katara’s father, Hakoda, and his second in command, Bato. The circle closed with the Earth King and Aang.

Uncle cleared his throat, and everybody turned to look at him. “I’ll start.” He proclaimed, standing up. “If everyone is ready.” There was a consensus of nodding around the table, and Iroh nodded back at his audience.

“Zuko.” He started, looking down to his nephew, who frowned almost instantly. “You’re sixteen and injured.”

“Uncle, we’ve talked about this.” He interrupted. He felt Mai’s hand on his forearm.

“Let him finish.” She whispered on his ear.

“Sorry. Continue, Uncle please.” He muttered.

“Apart from that, you’ve been… out of the country for quite some time, too.” Iroh raised his hand and scratched his beard, then sighed. “Unfortunately, I know you good enough to know that you’re too stubborn to step back from the throne; not because you’re anything like your ancestors, but because your guilt is too big for you to handle yourself.” Zuko’s hands turned into fists. He felt Mai’s grip tightening. “So, we’ve decided that yes, you’ll be crowned Fire Lord next week.”

Zuko raised his eyebrow. “But?” he prompted him.

“You will not do it alone.” Jeong Jeong said. Zuko turned to him. “You still have a lot to learn before you become a real Fire Lord, and we don’t want to pressure you after everything you’ve been through. We have just finished a war, after all.”

Iroh nodded. “We’ve decided to hire you a new council. Most of the old one was handpicked by Ozai, and we don’t trust that they won’t try to sabotage and destroy you from the inside. We’re only having people we know we can trust working with you, at least for the beginning of your career.” Zuko nodded.

“Who will it be, then?” he asked.

“Us.” Piandao said. “Well, Jeong Jeong, your uncle, and I.”

“And me.” Mai said.

Zuko frowned and looked up at his old Uncle. “I thought I told you to-“

“I know what you told me. Still, I’ll stay here until I see fit. My tea shop can wait, since everything will be ready for me whenever I am too.”

“Sokka will stay here too.” Hakoda announced. Zuko’s heart flipped at least three times. “He can provide an outsider’s point of view, and you can use all the friends you have at the moment. He’s young, but he’s smarter than most people I know, and I’m not saying it because he’s my own blood.” He smiles slightly. “He’ll be good for you.”

“I thought you guys were going to rebuild the Southern Tribe.” He whispered.

“Once all the warriors are back, we’ll have enough hands there. Sokka can help more here than he can in our tribe. Plus, it’s not like he’s staying forever.” Bato said as he shrugged.

Zuko didn’t say anything else, but he nodded.

“We’re also going to reinforce your security.” Iroh said, extending his hand towards Suki. “The Kyoshi Warriors will now be your personal guards. They’re led by Suki, and since Ty Lee has joined them, too, we think you’ll feel more comfortable being surrounded by people you actually know.”

Zuko looked at Suki, whose face, full of make-up, was indecipherable. He swallowed and nodded again.

“The North will also be sending someone from their Tribe here as an ambassador. As is the Earth Kingdom.” Iroh continued. “The war is over, so we’ll need to start making amends and connections with the other Nations somehow. We think this is the right first step.”

“Will we be sending our own ambassadors, too?” Zuko asked.

“Of course. They’ll ship with King Kuei and Chief Hakoda when they do. I have chosen them myself, I hope that doesn’t bother you, nephew.”

“No, it doesn’t. Thank you, Uncle.” He nodded and looked back at the table. His eyes stopped on the Avatar. “What about you, Aang?”

“I’m the Avatar. I can’t stay anywhere, I guess. Katara and I will be traveling around the three Nations, see where I can help. I will be coming back as often as I can.”

“If you ever need my help, you know you can count on the Fire Nation. Whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll have the resources to fix it. Or try to, at least.” Aang smiled at him, nodding too.

“Do you have any more questions, nephew?”

Zuko looked at him, then shook his head. He stood up, bowing before everyone. “Thank you very much. For taking care of my country while I was… indisposed, and for trusting me with this position. I promise I will do all I can to repair the damages my family has done, and make a brighter future for all Nations.”

His eyes clashed with his Uncle, which were teary, but he smiled proudly. Zuko felt a warmth in his chest he hadn’t felt in a while. Probably not since his mother had left.

Zuko stared at himself in the mirror while the tailor tried not to stab him with her pins. he was pretty sure she was talking to him, but he was too engrossed on his own reflection that he couldn’t even try to listen to her.

He had never noticed just how much he looked like his own father. He was pretty sure that without the scar, they would look almost the same. He had a flashback, then, of the house in Ember Island, when Katara had found his father’s portrait from when he was a baby, and immediately guessed it was him.

With his royal robes on, it felt like he was in front of Ozai, instead of a mirror. He noticed his hair was getting longer than he had ever had it, too. Fire Lords tended to wear their har long, past their shoulders. Maybe he should let it grow. But what if he started to look to much like him? He would probably never be able to look at himself again, he was sure of that.

“Is there any way… we can change it?” he asked. The tailor looked up at him from where she was taking measurements of his chest.

“Excuse me?”

He frowned. “The… royal outfit, or whatever the name is. Is there any way you can make it less…” he looked back at the mirror. “intimidating? I don’t really like… I don’t want people to be intimidated. I don’t want them to look at me like they looked at my father.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. I think I can soften the lines on the shoulders, maybe use more… warm colors?”

Zuko smiled at her. “I don’t know a thing about fashion. But I trust you. If you think that will help, by all means, be my guest.” The young girl – she couldn’t be much older than him, really – nodded. “What’s your name, by the way?”

“Aneri, sir. I just started working here. Your Uncle hired me.”

“Nice to meet you, Aneri. I’m Zuko.”

The young girl giggled, as she shook her heand and went back to work. Zuko stared at his reflection once more.

It was about time he took charge of his life.

“You want to do what?” Iroh asked, looking up.

“Bring it down. What’s the point of having the citizens come talk to me on my throne when I can’t listen to what they’re saying?”

Iroh frowned at his nephew. “Zuko, that could take months. It’s not like you’re taking down a painting, or changing the curtains on your bedroom.”

“I should do that too.” he whispered. “Barely any light gets in there, you know? But anyway, it won’t take us a minute.” He smiled. “We have the best earth bender on the world under our very roof.”

As if on cue, Toph walked inside the throne room, accompanied by Aang, who she was yelling at.

“I tell you, if only you tried, you could too! You’re the Avatar! You’re supposed to be like, the best at everything!”

“Maybe, at some point, Toph.” Aang said. He sounded exhausted. “I’m just trying to relax now! I have a very stressful life for a monk, you know?”

That made Zuko laugh. The kid was right, after all. But he guessed all Air Avatars felt like that at some point.

“Whatever, Twinkle Toes. Hey, Sparky! Iroh!” she greeted as they approached them. “So, what did you want me for?”

“See that enormous tower of stone that’s lift on the middle of the room?” Zuko said. Toph nodded, crossing her arms. “Can you… bring it down? But don’t break anything.”

Toph raised her eyebrows. “Are you kidding me, Zuko? If you want it down, I have to break it.”

“But you create columns of stone all the time!”

“It’s not the same! Those columns have a space to go back to! I can’t just create a huge hole to put this in!”

“Well, then I guess you are not the best earth bender on the world.” He said, turning towards his uncle. “I guess we’ll have to ask someone else. Do you think Haru is free right now? Or maybe King Bumi…”

Toph groaned. “I know what you’re doing, Sparky. Fine. I’ll do it, for my honor.” She sighed, walking closer to the raised throne. Zuko blushed at the words, hearing his uncle snicker next to him.

She did some form, stepping strongly on the ground, and the tower of stone slowly started coming down, until the throne was finally at the same height as the rest of the room. Zuko smiled proudly, patting his Uncle on the shoulder. “I told you she could do it. Thanks, Toph!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can I leave now?”

The day before his coronation, Mai and him lock themselves on his bedroom for him to practice his speech over and over.

He paced the room up and down repeating the words with different intonations, while Mai laid on his bed, looking at her nails. After two and a half hours, she sat up. “How much longer do I have to endure this? I’m kind of bored.”

“Mai. This is my coronation speech. It has to be perfect. This marks a before and after on the Fire Nation’s history.” He said, stopping on his tracks.

“It has already marked a before and after on your carpet, anyway.” She replied, falling back on the bed. “Did you know if you rub against a carpet you can create some kind of… lightning? Maybe you can try to bend it.” she joked. Zuko rolled his eyes.

He started to recite his speech from the top again. He knew that, even if she was acting like she didn’t care at all (as always) she was paying attention at him.

When his legs started to grow tired, he left himself fall in the bed beside her. He placed his head on her shoulder, and she surrounded him with her arms, running her long fingers through his hair. “You think I’ll do okay?” he asked. Mai nodded softly.

“Yeah. You’re going to do great, Zuko.” Silence; and then: “I’m proud of you.”

Zuko raised his head and smiled. “Thank you, Mai. It means a lot, coming from you.”

More silence. Zuko tried to focus on Mai’s breath, tried to match it when he noticed his was much quicker. After a while, he looked up at her again.

“Can I ask you something?” Mai nodded, raising her eyebrow. “What should I do about Sokka?”

“I think… you should talk to him. You know Suki and him are not together, do you?” Zuko frowned.

“How do you know?” Mai rolled her eyes.

“Ty Lee and her are tight.” She said, her fingers still running up and down his scalp. “But I just think you’re both being idiots, and this would have ended a long time ago if you just communicated.”

“Is that why we didn’t work? Because we never communicated?” he asked. Mai slapped his forehead.

“We didn’t work because you have a hard-on for the Water Tribe boy, Zuko.” The soon-to-be-Fire-Lord hid his face on her neck. “But anyway, I don’t think you should… do anything grand, or anything. Just talk. I’ve seen him moping around the palace for the best part of the last week and a half. He misses you as much as you miss him. And if his eyes are anything to go by, the feeling is _very_ mutual.”

“I just…” Mai sighed.

“Zuko, stop grounding yourself. What, you think he can do better? Believe me, he doesn’t. You two idiots are perfect for each other. And I’m not the only one who thinks that. Ty Lee said so too. Even Katara agrees. If you actually grow the balls to just finally kiss, you will probably end up being buried under joint tombstones or something like that.”

Zuko frowned at her. “You’re so weird sometimes, Mai.”

“Yeah, yeah.” she waved. “Look, Zuko. I just want you to be happy. And I genuinely think you can make each other happy. So, go for it. I know the path has been tricky, but if you think it’s worth it… You’re usually wrong on your decisions, but I don’t think you are this time.”

“Are you sure Suki is…”

“I don’t know if she’s going to be your number first fan. And you’ll probably have to talk about it, the three of you, if you’re going to be seeing each other every day. But time heals. And she’s beautiful, and a great girl. She’ll find someone who is not stupid.”

Zuko frowned harder. “Can you stop insulting Sokka?”

“I’m actually insulting both of you.” she smiled. “You should get revenge, though.”

“Revenge?”

“Yeah. Tease him. Wait for him to come to you. He won’t be able to handle it much longer. It’ll be fun. But when he does, talk to him. Tell him how you feel, dude.”

“Fine. Fine, I’ll… I’ll do that. Thank you, Mai.” She winked at him.

“That’s what friends are for.”

Zuko took a deep breath. He was about to be crowned Fire Lord. He was about to become his father’s successor. He was about to be responsible for an entire country, to fix the mistakes of the past hundred years.

He was, to say it simply, about to throw up.

Aang was with him, though. They had hugged, and he had realized right there just how young the Avatar was. This was crazy, they were nothing more than kids. And still. He had chosen this. He had chosen to become his people’s leader.

Maybe Mai was right. Maybe he was used to ground himself.

He shook his head before going through the heavy curtains that separated him from the multitude awaiting him, where, somewhere, was Sokka. He swallowed.

Sokka would be watching, so he could not mess this up. At all.

The Sages were already waiting for him outside. Zuko, chin up, walking as graciously as he could to the top of the stairs, taking in just how many people was there for him. Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation. On the front, the Kyoshi Warrios, along with Mai, Toph, and all the other friends he had made during his journey. In the middle, of course, were Sokka and Katara. The older brother was leaning a bit on his sister, his leg still bandaged, but he was smiling at him. Or, at least, he hoped he was. All of them there for him, to listen to what he had to say, trusting that he would guide them to a brighter future.

They were cheering on him, and Zuko felt like he was going to faint. The sound of the gong the Sages were playing was thunderous. He tried to not let anyone show just how nervous he was feeling. Just how small he felt, after all, right there in front of everyone.

“Please.” He finally said, raising a hand. “The real hero is the Avatar.”

And he was right. Aang was the one who had put a stop to the war, the one who had defeated his father. Aang was the one who should be receiving all the cheers, the applauds. Meanwhile he was merely a young boy with a wish to change the world.

Aang walked outside with him, and the people started cheering even louder. He smiled down at his friend. He could see his eyes shining, looking for someone on the crowd. He knew exactly how he felt.

Turning back to the people, he talked again. “Today, this war is finally over. I promised my uncle that I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation. And I will. The road ahead of us is challenging; a hundred years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided.” He finally, finally looked only at Sokka, in front of all the people, right by his family. He smiled down at him. “But with the Avatar’s help” he said, turning back towards his friend. “We can get it back on the right path and begin a new era of love” Sokka was looking up at him, smiling. He wondered what he would look like, if the roles were reversed. If he would be looking at Sokka with as much admiration and pride as he wished Sokka felt for him. “and peace.”

The Sages walked towards him, the golden piece that used to belong to his father, and his father before him, on their hands. Zuko kneeled in front of them, in front of everyone, and let them pin the piece to his topknot.

“All hail Fire Lord Zuko!” he heard the Sage say, and the people cheer. Standing up, he motioned for Aang to walk downstairs with him, towards their friends, towards their family, towards the people who would help them rebuild the world, and make it better.

Although Zuko wanted exactly anything but that, Mai had told him it was tradition to have a party after his coronation; and he shouldn’t start his legislature by ignoring traditions. He had tried to argue that what did it matter, if the people who cared about, the real citizens, were not going to be invited? She had sighed and ignored him, then continued to organize the party.

Zuko was pretty sure she had wanted the party for herself, but he’d never say that to her face. He was very fond of his fingers.

The party, just like he was expecting it to be, was extremely overwhelming: apparently, every councilman that had ever worked on the palace, and the ones that were supposed to be on the future, along with every ambassador, wanted to talk to him.

He tried to remember everyone’s names, but at some point, he was not even sure if the people he was talking to were saying hello or good-bye. He didn’t even know if he was introducing himself to people who had already talked to him twice.

That’s why, when Sokka’s voice ringed his ears, it felt like a savior sent from Agni.

“Hey! Zuko!” he turned back almost immediately.

“Sokka.” He whispered, walking towards him, opening his arms to embrace Sokka, who didn’t waste any time and quickly put his arms around the firebenders’ waist, his own on his shoulders. “I haven’t seen you in a while, how’s your leg?” he asked on his ear.

Sokka looked down as they broke the hug. “I guess it’s healing. Katara is taking care of it. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in action in no time!” he smiled. Zuko smiled back at him. He was so smitten with this boy. “So? How’s it feels to be Fire Lord?”

Zuko sighed. If this were what Sokka wanted to talk about… maybe a conversation with Mai would be better than this. “Stressful. I don’t think I’ve slept ever since I woke up from…” he trailed off, pointing at his chest. “You know.” Sokka nodded, frowning slightly. Zuko tried to change the conversation as fast as he could. “I hope from now on it’ll be… somewhat less stressing. At least rebuilding the world isn’t a task just for me. Aang and the other leaders will play a part, too. Including your father.” Sokka raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I guess my father… Uh. Yeah, he’ll help.” Sokka said, swallowing. “I’m probably going to stay for a few months too… in case you need, uh advice, or a second opinion, or something.”

Zuko’s eyebrows raised to his forehead. Hakoda had said Sokka was going to stay, affirmatively. Did he… had Hakoda not told him? “I didn’t know that.” he lied. “But… yeah, that’s… that’s good. It’s great. I’d love to have you here longer.”

That was probably the understatement of the year.

Sokka nodded, looking down at the floor. Then, he took a deep breath and raised his head, frowning. “Zuko, there’s something we need to talk about.”

Zuko looked at him, confused. “Oh. Okay? What is it?”

Sokka shook his head, looking around at the people who surrounded them. “Not here. Let’s go… somewhere private? Please.”

Zuko nodded, still frowning. Was this it? Was this… what Mai had told him to wait for? His heart did a double loop on his chest.

As if it didn’t hurt enough.

“Okay. Let’s go to my garden.” He whispered, walking out of the ball room.

They walked through the halls of the palace, where a few guards stood, ignoring them as they walked in silence.

Finally, they reached Zuko’s family’s private garden, where the turtleduck pond was.

“Be careful.” Zuko advised him. “The cobblestones might make your cane slide.”

“I’ll be fine, Zuko.” Sokka said, rolling his eyes.

There were a few stone benches around the pond, and they sat in one of them, one beside the other, facing the sleeping birds on the water. The pond always brought him bittersweet memories, of the times when he still had his mom. Maybe it was time for the memories to be… just sweet.

He felt Sokka looking at him, but his eyes were fixated on the turtleducks. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to look at him. It was just that… the animals were so peaceful, asleep like that, on the water. He couldn’t not look at them. Agni, if he was a turtleduck, his life would be way easier.

“Zuko.” Sokka started to talk. “I’m sorry.” He choked out. Zuko looked at him, frowning in confusion.

“What? Why? You… you didn’t do anything.” he tilted his head to the side. “You didn’t, right?”

Sokka chuckled, looking away to the pond. “I took you for granted. That’s what I did.”

Oh, Agni. His heart was going to race out of his chest.

“What do you mean?” Zuko asked. He knew the answer, of course, but… he wanted to hear it, too.

“After Boiling Rock, when Suki came back. I… I went back to her instead of… taking care of you, of what we had, or were; thinking that by the time I grew the balls to tell Suki the truth, you’d be waiting for me. Now I realize that’s not the truth. That you have…” he gestured around himself, at the garden, or maybe the palace. “all this, and all these people, and Mai is back too, and you’re the literal Fire Lord; so, I guess... I guess I’ve lost you, and it’s my fault. And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just jumped back to Suki like that, not when we were that close to… whatever.”

Zuko smiled, and placed his forehead on Sokka’s shoulder. How could someone be so stupid and so cute at the same time? “You’re a fool, Sokka.”

Sokka looked at him, a small frown plastered at his face. “Yeah, I know, but there’s no need to rub it in my face.”

Zuko giggled. “No, I mean… you’re a fool. You did a foolish thing, it’s true. And it hurt me a little, not going to lie. But… you’re a fool to think I’d not want you. Even if I am the Fire Lord, and I have all this, as you so eloquently phrased it;” Sokka rolled his eyes. “I still want you, Sokka. I will always want you.”

Sokka frowned deeper. “You do? You’re not saying this to get back at me or anything, do you?”

Zuko shook his head. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know, you were evil for the most part of the year we’ve known each other. You fought me a lot, dude. This is not the worst thing you could do.”

Zuko sighed. “I love listening to you, you know? But now, shut up.”

The Fire Lord leaned in, closing his eyes as his lips contacted Sokka’s. Sokka raised one hand to place it on Zuko’s cheek, rubbing his thumb across it.

Zuko felt like he was dying and being reborn all over again. He felt like another comet could come and fall right by his feet and he wouldn’t notice. All he could feel, all he could think about was _Sokka, Sokka, Sokka_ , his lips against him, his fingers on his cheek, the warmth of his body beside his.

When they broke apart, Zuko smiled, staring into Sokka’s eyes. Sokka cleared his throat. “That was really hot.” Zuko laughed, standing up from the bench. “Wait, where are you going?”

 _Tease him,_ Mai had said. And tease Sokka would he.

“I’d love to stay here, sweetheart.” Zuko said, not turning back. “But I have to play Fire Lord for a little bit longer.” When he was about to step inside the halls again, he turned to look at Sokka, who was still sitting on the stone bench. “Meet me in my bedroom after the party is over, okay?”

Sokka smiled. “Okay. Okay, I’ll be there.”

Zuko smiled back at him and walked into the darkness of the hall, a dumb smile plastered on his face.

Izumi frowns. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to get from that story, Daddy.”

Zuko laughs softly. “The lesson is, that you should’ve asked your mother. She’s a thousand times better at advice than I am, honey.” He sighs, as his daughter’s frown deepens. _Just like Sokka_ , he thinks, which rips a smile out of him. “But from my experience, I got back to Sokka because I knew he was my person. Because even if he had hurt me, my heart would always belong to him, and even though my brain didn’t know that at the time, my soul did. We were bound to be together, by the Spirits, or destiny, or whatever you think rules that. Sokka was, then, the only thing I could never run away from, even if I wanted to.” Izumi chews on his lower lip. “Do you feel like that with Syra? Do you think she’s… the person you’re bound to end up with?”

Izumi shrugs. “I don’t know. I’ve never… I don’t think about that kind of stuff. Not everyone wants the burden of being married to the Fire Lord. And that is what is bound to happen, whoever I end up with.”

Zuko hums. “I understand. So, your brain is not sure. What about your heart? Can you picture yourself with Syra, forever? Getting married, having kids… doing what normal couples do.”

The young girl sighs, closing her eyes. After a while, she smiles. “Yeah. I think I do.”

Zuko stands up, walking towards her. He crouches in front of her and places his hand on her cheek. “Izumi, great love overcomes everything that’s thrown towards it. You and Syra, you’re still young, and you’re supposed to make mistakes. Agni knows your father and I made a lot of them.” Izumi laughs, rolling her eyes. “But we always found a way out. We managed, because we trusted each other, believed in each other, and loved each other. If you and Syra are like that, then I know whatever has happened will end up just being a paragraph on the long story of your love.”

Izumi, chewing on his lower lip again, nods, her eyes watery, and puts her arms around her father’s neck. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“You don’t have to thank me. You know I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re always happy.”

Izumi nods, kissing her father’s cheek, and they stay like that, hugging each other, for a while.

After a few minutes, light steps surround the silence of the room, and a hand on Izumi’s leg startles her.

She looks down to find her little sister, her giant blue eyes looking at her, her brown hair ruffled. “’Zumi.” She says, in that little voice of hers. “You okay?”

As their father untangles from her, standing back up, she takes her sister on her arms, sitting her on her lap. Senna puts her little hand on Izumi’s cheek, and tilts her head in wonder. “Yes, Senna. Everything is okay.”

“You’re crying.” She says, pointing at the dry tears staining her cheeks. Izumi smiles.

“They’re happy tears. We’re very lucky, you know. We have the greatest dads in the world.”

Zuko smiles down at his daughters, tangled in a hug now. Then, he looks to the front door, past the chair the girls are sitting at, and to the body clad in blue leaning against the frame, arms crossed and white smile on his lips.

Yeah, there’s no doubt they’re the lucky ones.


	4. the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a little something i wanted to add, featuring my favorite general ever

Sokka and Zuko sit around the latter’s desk, going over the budget of that year’s Summer Solstice festival, when the doors are opened. They both look at the doors at the same time, frowning. They had given direct orders not to be disturbed.

Their grandson walks in, smiling apologetically, wearing his army uniform. “Sorry.” He says. “I tried to hold her off, but she’s relentless.”

The couple can hear the tiny but quick steps that go on their direction, and before they know it, a little girl’s head pops up above the desk.

Her brown hair is disheveled, she’s missing a tooth, and she’s all Water Tribe, dark skin, bright blue eyes staring at them with excitement.

“Korra.” Sokka whispers, going to pick her up and spin her around the room, making her giggle.

Zuko smiles, looking at his husband and their granddaughter, as he stands up to hug their other grandchild. “Iroh.”

“Hey, Grandpa. I’m really sorry, I know you didn’t want to be disturbed this morning. Mom told me that you’re a bit over schedule.”

“Don’t be silly.” He says, rolling his eyes. “You two are always welcome here, you know that.”

“Papa, Papa!” Korra says, trying to get her other grandfather’s attention from where she’s in Sokka’s arms. The fire bender smiles, looking at the little girl, and she taps on Sokka’s arm so he lets her down. “Wanna see what I can do?” he says, looking at her grandparents.

“Korra.” Iroh says, his tone severe. “You heard what your mom said.”

“Just a tiny bit! Iroh, please! Just a little bit!” she says, pulling at the leg of his pants. Iroh sighs.

“Promise you’ll be careful?” Korra nods, smiling widely. “Okay. But only once.”

Korra nods again, and then turns towards her grandparents. The men look at her with curious eyes. Her smile turns a touch mischievous before she yells “I’m the Avatar!” and proceeds to throw a flame out of her little punch, to the ceiling.

Sokka and Zuko’s eyes widen. The girl in front of them is still smiling, her hands now behind her back, balancing herself on her toes. The couple look at each other, then at the kid, and then at the young man on the other side of the room. “Surprise!” he says.

And, okay, they should have expected it, Senna did break her water while Aang was… leaving them; and they had thought about the possibility, but they never wanted to read too much into it. What were the chances of Aang reincarnating in the daughter of her niece, after all?

Apparently, all.

Apparently, the Spirits were not done with them.

“Papa.” Zuko is pulled out of his thoughts by the little girl tugging at his robes. “You have to teach me!”

Zuko smiles softly at her, then at Sokka. He’s already smiling at him. “Of course I’ll teach you, Turtleduck. There’s nothing I’d rather do.”

He bends down to pick her up, kissing her cheek as she makes a disgusted sound, making Iroh and Sokka laugh at them.

“Hey, Grandpa.” Iroh says from where he’s leaning against the wall, his arms crossed on his chest. “Looks like you captured the Avatar, after all.”

Sokka breaks out laughing, Korra looks at her cousin with a confused look, and Zuko stares at him with an unreadable face.

“Iroh. Get out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually can't believe taylor swift released another album before i finished this.
> 
> anyway, i hoped you guys liked it as much as i liked writing it! and again, i'm sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes or incongruencies you might find - i'll be taking care of it soon. 
> 
> and just a reminder: kudos and comments fill the soul, so don't be shy! i love hearing what you guys think about my work


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